(Sung in Italian)

The world premiere of Mozart´s „opera of operas“ was personally conducted by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787 in the Theatre of the Estates (originally known as Count Nostit´s Theatre). Mozart´s tale of legendary seducer and blashemer who mocks the conventions of man and God was commissioned by the impresario of Theatre, Pasquale Bondini, who wished to repeat the success of the Prague premiere of Figaro’s Wedding.

The Theatre of the Estates is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful historic buildings in Europe. The building itself was constructed in a Neoclassical style and remains one of the few European theatres to be preserved in almost original state to the present day.

(Sung in Italian)

Verdi´s penultimate opera, Otello, would most likely never have been written had it not been for the composer´s publisher, Giulio Ricordi. After finishing Aida in 1871, Verdi decided he would bring his magnificent career as an opera composer to its close. Naturally enough, this did not make Ricordi happy. Consequently, he did not hesitate and invented a way of deflecting Verdi from his set course: namely, by offering him a libretto he would find irresistible. The composer´s admiration of the Bard was generally known, so Ricordi shrewdly steered his attention towards Otello – and chose Arrigo Boito to be the librettist. The outcome: on November 1, 1886, Verdi completed the score, and rehearsals at Milan´s La Scala began in January 1887.

Champagne on arrival & Czech wine or beer with dinner

Elegant and sophisticated, the Mlynec, situated on the banks of the Vltava with magnificent views of the 13th century Charles Bridge and the Old Town Square, will literally take your breath away. Chef Marek Purkart was the first chef in the Czech Republic to win the coverted Michelin Bidendum award three times. This event first appeared in the Prague Winter Festival programme in 2008 and was a magic evening enjoyed by all who attended.

All guests are invited to join us for the festival opening ceremony. Here you will have the opportunity to meet other guests and enjoy a glass of champagne as you listen to a short concert by the Prague Castle Guard and Police Orchestra.

The Municipal House is one of the most remarkable constructions of Prague Art Nouveau. The building creates unique harmony of architectural and painting styles of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Neo¬Baroque, Neo¬Renaissance, and both Western and Oriental influences fuse together with Czech Art Nouveau. The impression this building gives is enhanced by a wide range of decorative styles and materials, as well as by the high quality of craftmanship. The monumental appearance of the building is crowned by the outstanding decor created by most of the prominent Czech artists of the day, namely the painter Alfons Mucha.

Walking Tour: One of the best ways to explore the historical and architecture treasures of Prague is on foot. This relaxed tour of the old town begins with a coach transfer from your hotel to the famous Powder Tower, where you will begin your walking tour. From the Powder Tower we will walk along the Royal Route to the Old Town Square, with all its famous sights. The walk continues along Karlova Street to Charles Bridge where you will have a magical view of Prague Castle. Crossing the Charles Bridge we enter the Lesser Town where the tour finishes at the bottom of the hill below Prague Castle, where you will board the coach to return back to your hotel. (2.5 hours.)

Coach Tour: For those who wish a less strenuous tour of Prague, we are offering a second city tour by coach. Your coach will pick you up at your hotel and take you to the most interesting areas of the city. You will pass by the State Opera, Wenceslas Square, the National Theatre, the Lesser Town, Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, the former Jewish Quarter and Old Town Square. You will stay on the coach for most of the tour. (2 hours)

The Hradistan Dulcimer Band is one of the oldest and most well-known Moravian dulcimer bands and its dramaturgy and artistic standard make it one of the most unique ensembles in Czech Republik. Hradistan focuses on folk traditions and its changes throughout centuries, reflection of folk art in the works of Czech composers Janacek and Martinu, fusion of folk, classical, rock and ethnic music.,

The dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings. The word dulcimer is Graeco-Roman, meaning "sweet song”. The dulcimer's origin is uncertain, but tradition holds it was invented in Iran (Persia) some 2000 years ago. Folk hammer dulcimers are usually referred to by their regional names but throughout central and eastern Europe they are often referred to as "cimbalom" (cymbalom, tsimbl, cimbál, cimbale etc.).

with buffet after performance

Opera and ballet companies of the Prague State Opera will participant in this production of traditional operetta called Vivat operetta! The leading singers and dancers of the company will present some of the most famous melodies, songs, and ballet numbers from operettas by Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán and Johann Strauss II. The show, directed by Petr Kracik, will bring together Act I of Gräfin Mariza (Countess Maritza), Acts II and III from Das Land des Lächelns (The Land of Smiles), and as a finale the audience will be taken to the splendid ball held by Prince Orlofsky – Act II of Die Fledermaus (The Bat by Johann Strauss).

Historical reconstruction of the story of W. A. Mozart and J. Dušková from November 1787 describing how the famous concert aria "Bella mia fiamma addio!" came into being at Bertramka. This unusual performance presents famous arias from the operas Don Giovanni, Figaro's Marriage and the compositions of Mozart's contemporaries. Guests can also visit the W. A. Mozart Museum and are offered a welcoming toast with sparkling wine.

The Baroque Jazz Quartet is an old-new formation, a successor of the well-known Baroque Jazz Quintet, which gave almost 3 000 concerts in many countries of Europe and America in 23 years of its existence. The band pursue a traditional style orientation, looking for things common to both classical and jazz music. The fusion of two elements results in novel and inimitable composition and interpretation qualities.

(Sung in Russian)

Eugene Onegin is a well-known example of lyric opera; the libretto very closely follows Pushkin´s original, retaining much of his poetry, to which Tchaikovsky adds music of a dramatic nature. The story concerns a selfish hero who lives to regret his blasé rejection of a young woman´s love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend. Tchaikovsky deliberately did not designate his work as “opera”, but “lyrical scenes”. Concealed beneath the seeming banality of the story of Tatiana’s unrequited love for Onegin is the eternal theme of human loneliness, the conflict between individuality and uniformity, ideals and resignation. All this is imbued with Tchaikovsky’s brilliant, torrential and poignant music.

My Country, the monumental cycle of symphonic poems by Bedrich Smetana is a unique apotheosis of the composer’s love for his motherland and Smetana himself wrote a brief outline of the contents of the cycle’s individual parts. The moving spirits behind the project, librettist Martin Hrdinka and leading Slovak choreographer Ján Durovcík, decided to enhance, in their spectacular full-length ballet production, the message of Smetana’s work by a multilayered visual presentation. Although the final product of their endeavour duly echoes contemporary developments in ballet art, it is at the same time highly accessible, as well as being finely tuned to the spirit of Smetana’s score.

Lunch is included

Our Dvorak Day will take you to the Antonin Dvorák Memorial in Vysoká, the place which he loved and inspired him for more than 20 fruitfull years and where he composed, began or finished over thirty new works. His major works whose genesis is associated with this place include the operas (Dimitrij, The Jacobin, Kate and the Devil and the most well-known Rusalka) oratorios, cantatas, overtures and the symphonic poems.

Dvorak also wrote at Vysoká (closed to Svata Hora) his Svatohorske Variations which are connected Svata Hora or Holy Mountain).

The performance connects several principles of black theatre into one non-verbal performance. It is a mixture of basic three-dimensional black theatre, comics, dance and pantomime. You will see humorous and also poetry of drawn black theatre. Contemporary dance pieces alternate with classical ballet and this is tied together by the performance of the main characters. The performance is interactive and the spectators are welcome to take part in the show.

Julian Rachlin – violin
Zdenek Mácal – conductor
Dmitri Shostakovich: Concerto No.1 for Violin and Orchestra (1906 – 1975) in A minor
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovski: Symphony No. 6 in B minor “Pathetique“ (1840 – 1893)

Dmitri Shostakovich a Russian composer and pianist, is considered to be one of the greatest musical prodigies of the 20th century. At the conservatory Shostakovich’s music is modern and unusual in its form (inspired a lot by Gustav Mahler), yet suggestive, melodically original and deeply emotional. In his music, we can often sense the problems of the world and the hardship of people back then. His Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 77 was dedicated to the world-famous violin player David Oistrach.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovski is one of the most played composers ever, especially his last symphonies, the ballet Swan Lake, the opera Eugene Onegin and the Piano Concerto in B Minor. Tchaikovski’s music is very melodical, its pathos is captivating and it also has Russian roots. The Sixth Symphony in B Minor dubbed the Pathetique Symphony was played for the first time in Petrograd on 16 October 1893. The composer passed away 9 days later.

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s best symphony orchestra’s and was first presented to the public under the leadership of Antonín Dvorák in 1896. It works with a large number of the world's leading conductors and interpreters, promotes Czech music throughout the world andits high artistic standard has been maintained throughout its existence.

The Bambini di Praga choir is one of the top ensembles in Czech choral art. This select group of young singers, predominantly girls aged 12 to 20, is capable of meeting all artistic challenges on a high level thanks to the professional guidance of its leaders. It has been a guest on many stages around the world. Its repertoire includes works of the vocal polyphonic style and of the classical period, songs of the romantics, choral works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, folk songs from nations all over the world, sung in the original languages, and of course folk songs of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia.

Love, jealousy, hate, death – these are the attributes of many operas and so it is with this, the most famous, opera by Puccini. It is set against the background of political strife in Italy in 1800. Dramatically it is an opera, which enthrals by its dramatic suspense and scenes imbued with passionate commotion and despair. Puccini’s music is matched to the drama.

The renewed set design of Josef Svoboda, created by him for the production in the Grand Opera on May 5, 1947, still commands respect both for its grandiosity and its purity of artistic expression.

We have planned this Farewell Buffet Dinner to be an informal get-together in the relaxed atmosphere of the Narodni dum.  We will enjoy a glass of sparkling wine on arrival and sit down for a buffet dinner while the popular Hlavsa Orchestra play some light classical music.  Dinner will be 3-courses plus coffee with soft drinks, red and white wine and beer throughout.  After dinner, in traditional style, the tables will be pushed back and the Orchestra will play some music that is easy to listen to (and dance to!).